Who's Afraid of Hamas?

Cries of dismay could be heard simultaneously from all directions when the PA announced that Hamas would be permitted to run in both local and parliamentary elections. In protest, Israel barred voting from taking place in Jerusalem, and the US and EU threatened to withhold funding if Hamas is permitted to participate. Security officials in Israel and abroad warn about the dire situation that will occurr if Hamas is allowed to take over an that there is a real fear of them winning a majority in Gaza and other major cities in the West Bank.

It has always puzzled me that Hamas has continually been a taboo subject for both Israelis and world leaders. Arafat and his successors in the PLO have been deemed "partners in peace". Convicted mass murderer Marwan Barghouti is a "legitimate candidate" and there are even calls to release him from jail so that he can campaign, Azmi Bishara and Ahmed Tibi regularly call for the destruction of Israel from WITHIN the Israeli Knesset and no one says a word, but Heaven Forfend Hamas should be permitted to run!

It doesn't take much research or critical thought to realize that there is NO negotiable difference between the PA. Hamas, Fatah, Islamic Jihad, or Hizbollah, the Israeli Arab political parties or any other Arab terror group. All of these organizations are directly involved in terrorism, the routine murder of Jews and work towards the eventual destruction of the State of Israel. The time has come to stop whitewashing arch terrorist Arafat and his good old boys and treat them as what they are- wolves in sheep's clothing. Are we really supposed to trust Abu Mazen, whose PHD dissertation was a flamboyant piece of holocaust revisionism? Does Fatah, or the Al-Aksa brigades, the official military wing of the PA, have any less blood on its hands than its radical rivals in green? Was Arafat not directly responsible for killing the most number of Jews since Hitler and Stalin? It is time to take the wool off of our eyes and call a spade a spade. The PA is no better than Hamas and their goals are the same. The only difference is their tactics and willingness to use deception to achieve them.

There is however, ONE major difference between Hamas and the PA. The PA is rife with corruption and is in essence nothing more than a government sanctioned mafia. A party which has completely lost touch with the will of the people, has been stealing their money for years and is widely viewed as willing to sacrifice ideology for money power and prestige. Hamas on the other hand, is seen as the honest ideological party, the "party of the people" so to speak, and that is why they are becoming more and more popular. This is not only in theory, they managed to do very well in many municipal elections especially in big cities such as Schem.

If Hamas were merely some marginal fringe party the powers that be would have no problem with them running and showing poorly in the polls. The fact is that they have a very good chance at winning, or at least taking a significant percentage of the electorate. This is why they are so feared and why there is so much pressure to exclude them from the elections.

But why should we be afraid of Hamas? Haven't we already established that from a standpoint of terrorism or ideology they are no worse than the current regime? Wouldn't their victory mean a major decrease in corruption and mishandling of funds which are meant to go to the "Palestinian people"? Why are the very people who for so long demanded free elections in Palestine, now attempting to censor the ballot? Don't "free elections" and the democratic process trump every other political concern? Shouldn't the "Palestinian People" be permitted to vote for whomever they choose, not a pre-decided set of candidates who will maintain the status quo?

The real reason that there is so much international opposition to Hamas is obvious: If they are permitted to run and then win or do well at the polls it will unequivocally prove to the world once and for all that the "Palestinian People" = Hamas. The Emperor will be naked and the lies that have been fed to us since the Oslo accords about the "moderate peace loving majority" of the "Palestinian People" will finally be exposed as complete fabrications and political sophistry. It will show that in a TRUE free election, the Palestinians will not vote for peace or compromise, they will vote for HAMAS, in essence a vote to continue the campaign of murder and mayhem until no Jew is left on Palestinian soil. They will vote for radical Islam and not Western Democracy or Liberalism. They will choose the battlefield over the negotiating table and the sick game we have been playing will finally be over. In the end, the "Palestinians will not even settle for the trojan horse, "jack in a box" called the PA, who is more discrete about its goals and tactics. They want the real thing -Hamas -Terrorism no holds barred.....

So why not let the Arab inhabitants of Israel finally vote their conscience? Why not allow them to have a truly free and unencumbered election? Why not once and for all allow them to show their true colors to the world publicly embarrassing the EU, UN, US State Department and most of all the Israeli Left who for so long have tried to cover up their atrocities, squarely placing the blame on Israel's shoulders? There is an old expression in Yiddish "A good enemy is better than a bad friend." We all know where Hamas stands, wouldn't we be in a far better position dealing with them than a lying cheating PA who says one thing in English and the opposite in Arabic? Why not finally let the truth come out; that the Arabs of Israel actively seek its destruction and MUST be treated like enemies of the State instead of "partners in peace". They must be fought against and expelled not given more concessions and "confidence building measures". Because if they will be allowed to vote, their "confidence" in Hamas and radical Islamic terrorism will be as clear as day and no amount of rationalization or political maneuvering will be able to cover that up. Let Hamas run, let the Arabs once and for all show their true intentions. And if they run I hope they win, because as strange as it may sound, A Victory for Hamas is a Victory for Israel!